Dear Friends, Supporters and Residents of the Sedona Fire District,
Recently, in historical accomplishment, you successfully recalled three members of the SFD Governing Board. Then, in an overwhelming victory, on May 15, 2012, you elected Nazih Hazime, Diane Schoen, and Corrie Cooperman to replace them.
In this short time, your new Board’s progress has been exceptional and they are proud to represent your interests within the District. Their goals to establish financial stability, protect your professional emergency services and work within the limits of authority are being decisively accomplished.
Diane and Corrie will serve the remaining two years of their predecessors’ terms but Nazih’s seat, and one other, are open for election in November.
Two of the recalled – then defeated – SFD Governing Board members have already declared their candidacy!
WE CANNOT ALLOW THEM TO SUCCEED! Nor can we allow them to “buy” the next election! Current SFD Governing Board Member, Nazih Hazime, and Sedona City Planning and Zoning Commissioner, Scott Jablow, are opposing their run.
Nazih and Scott will continue working toward a healthy future for your Fire District through strategic planning, fiscal responsibility, and professional training. They will adhere to – not work to avoid – Open Meeting Laws ensuring transparency and public involvement while guarding against wasteful and unnecessary spending.
They cannot do it alone.
They do not have political parties to fund their campaigns.
Their successful election depends entirely on the financial support of every citizen in this District. Only YOU can effectively safeguard continuity within the community, ethical Board practices, and compliance with the roles and responsibilities of a Fire Board.
Keep your political donations LOCAL — where they matter the most — where they can most directly — and immediately — BENEFIT YOU!
Nazih and Scott are depending on you to financially demonstrate your ongoing support for their efforts on your behalf.
Please consider the amount(s) you would like to contribute up to a maximum of $430.00 per person /$860.00 per couple for each candidate you support. Then choose one candidate or divide that amount between the two. Finally, please complete a Donation Form as required by Arizona State Law, then return both to:
LaRae Henry, Treasurer for committees Hazime and Jablow, 345 Verde Valley School Road, Sedona, Arizona 86351.
For even greater convenience, please visit our website at www.sfdelections.com and use your credit card to complete your contribution and Donation Form through PayPal.
Thank you again for your ongoing support and for caring about YOUR Sedona Fire District.
Respectfully,
Karen Schmitt Sedona AZ P.S. Your generosity today will bring election success in November. Early contribution is essential!
For the best Sedona Arizona News and Views? Subscribe to www.SedonaEye.com today.
I’ll make sure to bookmark and come back to read comments. Curious what people are saying about the recalled folks thinking they’d run again. What makes them tick?
Supporters of the SFD Recall, There’s Still Work to be Done! They dare to run again!
Amazing. What part of ‘We don’t respect You’ and ‘We don’t want You’, do the recalled folks not get?
Indeed George, what makes them tick? Ego, arrogance, denial?
Hello All:
I’m new to this blog having been turn on to it by my neighbor in West Sedona only a few weeks ago. It appears to me that since the recall election, the SFD has been running rather smoothly, except for a few burps from those old recalled board members. I’m happy to see Mr. Hazime run again for his seat and from what I’ve been hearing about Mr. Jablow at City Hall, he should be a nice fit to continue smooth sailing for the next few years.
Just think how nice it will be for the next few years not to have any friction over at the SFD, WOW what a concept!
Dr. John Branch, Phd
As far as what makes these people “tick,” IMO it is total arrogance and ignorance. The arrogance makes these people “believe;” they understand the responsibilities of a board member, that they can do anything regardless of their lack of education or training, and their ignorance prevents them from seeking or believing seasoned professional fire fighters and their chief. How they could ignore public discontent and their own recall and their previous actions known to the public, to decide to run again, just proves their ineptness and their disregard of how they are perceived in the community.
Some people cannot be embarassed and some people are so full of themselves they don’t realize the odor they give off.
Phyllis and Dave, we’ve tried to tell you — you embarrass us and you stink as elected officials.
Well the jury is still out on the new board so before all the crowing is done let’s just wait. Am sure the new budget will be much higher than the last and all those going forward will be.
Glenn:
Being cautious is a good thing but, let’s remember this; The new Board explained very clearly that they were going to act fiscally responsible, which in my eyes means that they will act FAIR for the firefighters, staff AND the community and it appears that they’re doing just that. Fiscally responsible doesn’t mean cutting the way the recalled Board did.
Our firefighters haven’t had a raise in many years endured cuts and the loss of Step Raises. So, giving those men and women a small COLA increase and reinstating Step Raises as needed sounds very fair or as some would say; “fiscally responsible”.
According to the recalled Board’s own audit, 60% of our firefighters were looking to leave the district and could you blame them? But, IF they were to leave, it would decimate our community. If you think that we paid a lot in OT before, it would be far worse if even 30% left.
Another issue that you need to consider is that the recalled Board hired a new Chief who appears to understand our fears of higher taxes. The Chief clearly explained why the mil rate needed to be raised and that it’s going to raise and lower as needed. So, I think that your point of “much higher” taxes won’t be the case.
Dr. John Branch, Phd.
Glenn,
We all know what the new budget is going to be. It was presented several times at SFD Board meetings to the board made up of the members who were recalled, as well as the new board. Haven’t you noticed that the budget is the same as originally presented? You are just interested in spreading mis-information, just like the rest of your supporters. Get a life and go and pick another hobby!
Just wait a few months or a year. It won’t take long for the new board to get hold of your wallet. Hazime’s major goal is to put together a Verde Valley Fire District which will include “The Golden Goose” (Sedona) and when that happens, our property taxes will go up drastically. The new board is doing the bidding of the Union so the spending will go up instead of down which is what the previous board was trying to do. Much of the funding of the recall election was from fire unions from around the state.
John….
Your information is as faulty as your logic!
As Treasurer for the Committees to Elect Nazih Hazime, Diane Schoen and Corrie Cooperman, I am able to state without fear of contradiction, NO UNION MONEY was received by our committees. As noted in our ads, our campaigns were funded 100% by citizens of the Sedona Fire District.
But PLEASE don’t take my word for it. Each legitimate campaign for election to the SFD Governing Board is required – by Arizona State law – to submit complete financial reports to Yavapai County Elections.
At http://www.yavapai.us/campaignfinance/ you will find an option to view those reports clearly indicating every contribution over $25.00.
Without question, Hazime, Schoen and Cooperman had the overwhelming support of a majority of contributors – as well as voters. Unlike recalled, then subsequently defeated former Board Chairmain, Dave Blauert, who “loaned” his own committee $1,500.00 to finance his failed campaign. That in itself, should speak volumes.
The numbers and the reports don’t lie. Why is it those who continue to oppose the current Governing Board find it necessary to do so? Yet another point that speaks volumes.
Prior to the election, a Letter to the Editor of SedonaEye stated, “…the citizens, NOT THE UNION. Deal with it.”
What part of that statement remains beyond your comprehension?
John/Glenn or whatever you call yourself,
The reason why the former board was recalled is that they DID get hold of our wallets and wasted money on unnecessary attorney fees, an expensive audit that turned out to be a fishing expedition and proved that the SFD staff was running things the way they were supposed to.
Your cohorts have mismanaged our hard-earned money with the excuse that they were doing it to save money. Their only goal was to dismantle a highly professional and efficient Fire District and turn the clock back to the “horse and buggy days” when we had a volunteer fire department.
Guess what? People wised up and got sick and tired of the games being played. You and your cohorts seem to feel that you can easily provide us with mis-information about the source of funding for the recall. All you have to do is go to the Yavapai County Elections website, look at the financial reports and know for sure who contributed money to the campaign. The real truth is easy to find, so go somewhere else with your twisted truths.
Outrageous claims by people like John have been around for awhile. It was the platform that the recalled Board members ran on the first time. None of the statements are true, nor can they be proven so. Maybe its time to require all posters to put their real full names on here, and present some factual proof.
By supporting Nazih Hazime and Scott Jablow for the Fire Board we will finally have a group of professionals who can make reasoned decisions on how to protect our lives as well as our budgets. You can’t get professional service for free.
Tom I am not interested in this years budget as it was too late to propose a new one but next years. We all know that this board is in favor of building a new fire station that the old one was against. John is right and we will see that happen in the near future.
Glenn,
If your statement : “We all know that this board is in favor of building a new fire station that the old one was against.” is correct, then I have two questions:
1. Why was the old board so roundly defeated in the Special Recall Election?
2. Could it be that a majority of the citizens in the Sedona Fire Distrct realize the need and the importance of a new fire station bringing response times to within industry norms – and they WANT that new station?
Wake up! When a life is at risk, RESPONSE TIME is the difference between life and death. To paraphrase a statement made by a citizen during Public Forum of the most recent SFD Governing Board meeting, “When it comes to a decision between DEATH or TAXES, I’ll take taxes.”
So, your prediction of a new station happens to be EXACTLY what the majority of citizens in this district voted for.
Glenn,
To add to what was posted by Wendy Tanzer…the people who live in the area of the new fire station have been paying their share of SFD fees for the past several years with the anticipation/hope to have a station in their immediate area. They deserve to get the deserved/expected services they paid for. In addition, the SFD taxpayers in the VOC will also benefit from the construction of the new station by getting better services and quicker response times.
Don’t you get it that right now residents in the VOC don’t benefit from the necessary response time because the units coming out of FS #3 are also responding to calls from Sedona, Chapel area and I-17?
Are you so narrow-minded that you can’t understand that SFD taxpayers residing in other areas are also entitled to services they are paying for?
Wendy I can answer that question. When you have the huge amount of money the new board members had to spread their lies it was a no brainer. Money almost always wins especially when you use the fear factor as they did. I received several expensive mailing from the new board members but none from the recalled group. So big money wins just that simple.
Tom since when has the Chapel area not been included by their services. I remember when there wasn’t even a circle K in our area, don’t know how we survived. As far as calling me simple mined is that what you have to resort to. Most people that have to do that really aren’t that intelligent themselves.
Glenn,
I didn’t call you “simple mined” (I think you meant…minded?).
I suggested instead that you were “narrow-minded”–meaning that you were looking at things with your blinders on.
In other words, you didn’t seem to grasp the fact that people in the Chapel area can wait for as much as twenty minutes for emergency/fire services to arrive from either station #1, 4 or 3. That is much too long, considering that paramedic services need to arrive no later than six minutes in order for someone to survive a heart attack.
The same will apply to the SFD taxpayers living in the VOC who may find themselves in the very same situation if units from station #3, located in the VOC, respond to calls from the Chapel and West Sedona.
Are you grasping anything at all from what I suggested? Judge for yourself if you are using your intelligence to your fullest capacity.
Oh Glenn…
Could it possibly be THE MESSAGE on those two (not several) mailings received by EVERY RESIDENT in the District? Any voter opposed to the ideas put forth could certainly have cast their ballot differently. But they didn’t. Oh, I forgot… you’re not registered to vote in this District, are you?
The last time you stated the recalled group sent nothing, a reader immediately reminded you recalled then subsequently defeated former Board Chairman Dave Blauert DID in fact send a mailing. AND he ran MANY, very expensive, full page ads in the Red Rock News. He also ran an ad on the banner of this very news source. And STILL he was defeated. BY A LANDSLIDE! Hmmmmm. . . . Imagine that!
When cries of “union money” are PROVEN FALSE and cries of “huge amounts of money” are also PROVEN FALSE, as documented by the county website noted above, your repeated attempts to spread falsehoods – presumably brought forth by the frustrations of doggedly held but errenous positions – become foolish in the extreme.
They also make all your statements appear at best, questionable, and at worst, intentional lies. Is it your purpose to mislead? If so, how unfortunate for you. If not…
Wendy yes I am a registered voter in the district and have been for a long time. I have owned property in the area since 1975 so that should set the facts straight. I have yet to see the proven false facts come forward.
Tom I would gladly set down with you and discuss life to see who has the intelligence.
Glenn ( Lowell J??)…are you sure that you don’t want to sit down instead of “set” down. Is discussing life going to REALLY determine our intelligence? When you mentioned in your response to Wendy that “I have yet to see the proven false facts come forward”, have you even bothered to look up the facts on the Yavapai County Elections website as she suggested? That would have been an intelligent thing to do, don’t you think?
Just hold onto yourselves, as time will soon reveal the true intentions of this board……many clues have already been given by their excessive and santimonious verbiage, but most are too clueless to discern them.
Interesting to me how the people on this blog who know nothing except how to spread lies and misinformation never give there full name!!!! I guess it’s easier to spread your Bull Crap that way. John and Glenn!!!!
John,
It’s obvious to me that the true intentions of this board is to represent all of the taxpayers within the Sedona Fire District, specially the ones who recalled three of the previous board members in a landslide election.
When you refer in your posting about the “their excessive and sanctimonious verbiage”, you are very accurate in describing those recalled individuals, as well as Mr. Craig Dible. Let me also assure you that we are not, as you state “clueless to discern them.” In fact, it’s because we were capable to discern them that got them thrown out of office soon after their initial election.
Just hold on to yourself to see actual progress being made in the SFD for the first time since the initial election of Don Harr and Charles Christiansen.
Rich here is my full name for your information. Is there anything else I can help you with?
Yes Tom anytime will debate you face to face.
Now thats it Glenn!!! Now that I know its you and based on your past misinformation and non factual claims, I feel no need wasting my time reading or responding your posts!!! Thanks Glenn!!
Glenn Shannon,
I don’t even know why you are even posting here. You live in Glendale, AZ and are no longer a resident in the Sedona Fire District. Why should any of us even want to respond to any of your postings or even debate face to face with you?
This is what I found on the internet as I ‘googled” you:
“Glenn R Shannon was born in 1940. Glenn currently lives in Glendale, Arizona. Before that, Glenn lived in Sedona, AZ from 1986 to 2011. Before that, Glenn lived in Phoenix, AZ. Glenn R Shannon is related to Paul Shannon, who is 33 years old and lives in Phoenix, AZ. Glenn R Shannon is also related to Brigitte Shannon, who is 63 years old and lives in Glendale, AZ.
I agree with Rich. Now that I know who you are, I am not going to waste my time reading and responding to your posts. By the way, you and John seem to be identical twins…
Time will tell, one item I heard one of the new board members stating that we should pay for education for the firemen, because it makes them feel appreciated. Not job related education, just education. I’m sure paying for their car would make them feel appreciated also.
Flagstaff recently opened applications for 3 firemen, 3 to be hired now, others a couple years in the future, they got 500 applicants who had gone through the fire academy. Don’t worry about firemen quitting, there are lots of people out of work.
Things appear smooth now, because most of the old boards opposition came from the Sedona fire department and those related to fire employees. No fire department employee complains when money is spent in ways that would embarrass drunken sailors.
Is Karen Schmitt related to Sandy Schmitt, who works for Sedona Fire?
Wait until your taxes go up. As one of the new board members stated ” it’s only the cost of a latte”. Wait until they charge you for a latte every day.
Oh Man!!! Look what crawled out from under the rock of resentment!! The master of deciet. the master of misinformation and lies, the master of BS as well as the man who holds the most hatred towards SFD staff and personnel. MR TONY TONSICH!!! Pay no attention folks to his MAD RANTS and Hate driven comments!! This man cannot be helped or reasoned with!! Please move along, there’s nothing from him worth reading!! Unless you want a good laugh!!
When they have no logical facts to state, the Sedona Fire supporters resort to personal attacks. Shows how many facts support their arguments.
Tony Tonsich,
Coming from someone who has an ax to grind with the SFD based on your own entry in April of 2012 “Some additional background, my fiance, Julianna Stewart was employed by Sedona Fire Department for about 7 years…” can we REALLY expect a fair assessment of the situation?
You and I both know that Karen is not related to Sandy…so, stop spewing your ranting filled with misinformation. Go back into your cave where you have been hiding since the last re-call election!
Tony,
Interesting how the minds of you and your friends work. I guess you think the only reason someone would work toward recalling a fireboard that was engaged in one questionable practice after another is if they had some kind of ties to the SFD….in this case, a relationship to Sandy Schmidt.
BTW, check out the spelling of our names, and that should have answered your question before it was asked. Just because YOU have a dog in this fight, it doesn’t necessary follow that others do too. Some of us are just concerned citizens working for a better community.
For starters, the three recalled board members along with their buddy, Craig Dible, were fooling nobody when they said they wanted a “forensic audit.” First, Craig Dible accused the SFD in a letter to the Red Rock News of “cooking the books,” and basically cheating the taxpayers.
Obviously he had no evidence to make such an outrageous claim. At a recent board meeting, nearly a quarter of a million dollars later, Dible admitted he had been wrong.
Other reasons I have been involved with seeing that the SFD gets a fair shake, is that they are a hard working, honest, intelligent bunch of people who deserve our respect and they weren’t getting it from the previous board.
Over the last four years I have talked to people from both sides of the issues, and from what I have seen, most of the perceived injustices and complaints voiced to me date back a number of years… All of them before Chief Hazime was hired, and about 5 or 6 fire boards ago!
How long do you intend to continue to carry around your rage? You can do what you wish, but your anger is like drinking poison and expecting someone ELSE to die!
As far as being related to Sandi Schmidt, I am not related to her or anyone there. But I would be proud to be associated with any and all of the SFD employees, thank you very much!
Well Tom guess your information is not complete as I own a home in Pine Valley and stay there most of the summer and have for years.
Tom will need your help for two things. I have been paying taxes in Sedona since 1975 so will you help me get a refund? Also since I am registered to vote up there don’t tell anyone I don’t own any property there.
Hi, Glenn…
I found this interesting:
You own a home in Pine Valley and stay “there” most of the summer. Then you reference our community as “up there.” Both those incidents of parapraxia just prove the majority of your epistles originate from somewhere “down there!”
Just sayin’ …
Sorry Wendy I said it wrong, only when it gets below freezing do I leave and that is why my main residence is Sedona.
Elections bring about short term and long term memory losses except for the letters D and R. I’s don’t stand a chance. Time for no labels.
Hazimi is the one who demanded the study. Check some of my older posts where I cite the board minutes.
I am against waste, like the ladder truck. Such as ” special duty transport” which are free rides HOME from the hospital, to pad the ambulance calls. Such as 5 staff in accounting when timekeeping is done by telestaff and payroll by ADP.
I am really against waste, lies and hypocrisy.
I’m not going away..
Have a nice day!
Tony,
If you are against waste, you should then spend more time doing your homework. Without the ladder truck (and I assume it’s the 100 ft ladder truck) our guys would be unable to fight and engage the majority of the fires we have had. Had you been at the VOC fires where several homes were destroyed, you could have witnessed the 100ft ladder truck preventing the fire spreading to nearby homes.
You know it and I know it that you have a personal vendetta, by your own admission, against the SFD. In addition, we all know that you are definitely not against waste, because if you were, why didn’t you saying anything about the money that was wasted by the last board for unnecessary attorney fees and a worthless audit? Aren’t you being hypocritical?
In as far as lies and hypocrisy…I suggest that you re-read your own postings and you will readily see who is guilty of spreading lies and being hypocritical!
Tony I have nothing against the fire department except the abuse. The other day I observed the fire truck at the IGA store while the fire department shopped. Everyone knows the short trips are bad on any motor vehicle. Have observed thru time fire trucks being used for personal use before. Since you are so great on pointing out improper posting you should read your last post especially where you said ( why didn’t you saying anything about the money) I don’t think an audit is a waste of money just because nothing was found. You are way overstating the use of the ladder truck and you know it, those trucks were designed for multi-story buildings. They don’t call it a audit problem but I do when we are charged a million dollars overtime. I know there is a need for a fire department just not the abuse.
The REASON fire fighters use the vehicles is no different than why cops use vehicles to get coffee or lunch or dinner. They are emergency responders. They need equipment to reach you when you have a heart attack in less time than it would take to call everybody on a cell phone, wait for them to get back to the station, then dispatch them, they are dispatched from point of call. That’s why you probably see more than one person shopping at the store/it’s enough to man the truck.
short trips on equipment wear and tear? What planet do you live on and who provided your early education tools? Your arguments smell of the old get a bath and wash your hair once a week because it’s too costly to launder the towels and use the soap. How old are you anyway? Math and common sense and logic tools aren’t in your box. You are an example of why school districts need more money to educate but I bet you think your education was great so no need to think you want to educate others.
look up the word abuse/it doesn’t apply to your argument.
Glenn, I think your remarks were meant for me, Tom, and I was responding to Tony. Vernon has done an excellent job giving you the information you wrote about in the first section of you posting.
Just got this from the “FAQ” on http://www.sedonafire.org/faqs.php and found this under the topic you asked about “We are always ready to respond!” Our fire fighters are never far away from the engine or each other. They spend 48 hours together, per shift, which includes meals. They get no formal “breaks.” Even though they may be buying groceries, these fire fighters are still available for 911 calls.”
I must add that whever I go to IGA I see the guys just walking back to FS #3 filled with the stuff they just bought…so your comments about the fire trucks etc. is just part of your constatnt criticism of the guys in the SFD. Obviously, you are viewing it from the old days of the volunteer fire department that has since been replaced by far more professional and efficient personnel. My family has had the need to call on them and let me tell you that they are NOTHING like the volunteer firefighters who responded to our calls in the “good old days.”
As far as the 100ft ladder truck, it looks like your mind is already made up and you don’t want to hear any facts.The 100ft ladder truck that was bought used as a demo for about $800,000—it would behoove you to find out how it’s being used and how many structures and brush fires have been contained because of that unit. The attached picture of this particular ladder truck trying to save homes in the last VOC fire says it all.
(Visit https://sedonaeye.com/voc-fire-fundraiser-scheduled on this site to view the photograph of ladder truck.)
Vernon the IGA is right next to the fire department. They could have used a less expensive vehicle like their own car for personal use.
Vernon I grew up in car mechanics as my dad owned a garage and still work on my own cars. I know a hell of a lot more about vehicles than you will ever know
Glenn you are quicly becoming a Zero !! Nothing left in life for you but to take notice of a Fire engine out shopping for lunch!! Are you aware they carry Handi Talkies so if a run comes in they can respond form where they are with out going back to the firehouse, as would be the case if as you say “they took their own car”. I guess you would prefer them LOCKED UP for 48 hours in the firehouse with only bread and water!! I got an idea for you Glenn, why not go back to Phoenix (you know your primary residence were you do your voting) and take notice of the things you percieve the Phoenix fire dept does wrong!! I expect a full report from you shortly!!
Rich I guess you have trouble reading. I am registered and vote in Sedona as have stated previously. I spend the majority of the year in Sedona so consider it my main residence. As you know only a fence divides the fire department from the IGA store so how much time do you think it would take for them to get back. As far as making dumb statements as locked up for 48 hours guess you have nothing more intelligent to say.
Glenn Shannon,
You say you have nothing against the fire dept, but you accuse them of “abuse.”
If SFD fire fighters “used their own cars” instead of the emergency vehicles when they got groceries, even though they might be “right next door,” do you realize it might take as long as 5 minutes to drive back to the station, change vehicles and take the call. If someone is not breathing, are you aware it could mean the difference between having brain damage or not? No, you probably don’t.
As far as the ladder truck, one of the myths the SFD “haters” used to perpetrate is that it is just a “toy” and is not needed in Sedona.
You say it’s to be used for only tall buildings.
Well, we do have a number of resorts that have 4 stories, and to put out a roof fire, they want to spray the water DOWN onto the roof from above…not UP. However, another use for lateral needs. It has already been used to save the L’Auberge cabins, homes on hills, stretched across the Oak creek, over parked cars when they cannot get close to a building, and in the recent fires in VOC.
If it had been housed in a Midway firestation, closer to VOC, the destroyed properties might have been saved.
In addition when some think of a 100 ft. ladder truck, they think of it’s extension being straight up 100 ft. Since it has to be raised at an angle, it reaches only about 70′ upwards.
There are many other facts about the vehicle that you could learn, if you would only ask the fire district for its uses in Sedona. I personally have watched a couple of presentations where they explain the facts to unconvinced people. I find Most people of your ilk would rather criticize and complain instead of asking for the facts. They would never consider ASKING one of the professionals what they use it for.